Having been convent-educated in Hartshill (near Newcastle) from the age of 5 to 10 and then Surrey from the age of 10 to 17, I graduated from Southampton University in 1980, attending the College of Law in Guildford, did articles in London, spent two years in Oxford (gradually creeping northwards again!) and then came back to my roots and have been in the Newcastle-under-Lyme region since in 1986.
I started as a generalist (very useful!) but since 1991 have specialised in property and now deal mainly with portfolio and transactional work in the commercial field. Over the years I have developed ancillary specialisms in certain areas, such as charity property, agricultural and rural property, telecommunications, leasehold enfranchisement and social housing.
Outside work I have a variety of interests (but sadly cannot afford the time to get too obsessed with any of them – if only there were 48 hours in each day!), the usual ones, cooking, singing (choir – good for relieving stress), playing the guitar and piano (equally badly!) – but my main ambition is to write a memorandum modern “ghost” story to join the likes of “the Turn of the Screw”, using a modern twist on the genre. It may sound like something not that unusual… but there aren’t many good ghost story writers around these days – believe me, I’m looking all the time! I’ll just have to keep searching for those extra hours!
I am married to a psychiatrist (which, as someone said, makes for some interesting arguments) and we live in Alderley Edge – which is a great place to be (despite the rain and “Wilmslow lung”!).